On the plane ride out to Montana I came to the conclusion that the window seat isn’t as exciting as when I was a kid. I remember the excitement of being able to see the view from the plane as we took off and soared into the sky. Getting an aerial view of your surroundings was an infrequent treat long before the Internet was commonplace. But with the advent of Google Maps and Windows Live Maps, seeing things from above is as common as an overloaded inbox.

By entering a short query I can jump from the Grand Canyon to Mount Rushmore, back to the Rocky Mountains, and across to the Finger Lakes of New York. All of this for less than a pack of overpriced airline peanuts. And just as easy as it is to jump around the United States I can fly to other countries throughout the world: Mt. Kilimanjaro, Stonehenge, Easter Island, and Egyptian Pyramids.

So on our trip I let Kristina have the window seat while I read More Joel on Software by Joel Spolsky and caught up on podcasts. After our 4 flights I realized I didn’t miss the porthole view, seeing the tops of clouds, or the visual reassurance that the wing was still firmly attached to the fuselage of the plane. And let’s face it, when you are flying over the midwest there isn’t much to see anyways.